Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Got mice? Wet down droppings, etc .before sweeping!!


Publicdomainpictures.net
MICE seem to be coming out of the brickwork

WHAT DO MICE LIKE?

Crumbs and food garbage. You can compost, keeping food garbage in the freezer till the Friday Farmer’s Market or until we get composting in the building. It makes for less free-flowing food garbage in the compactor room.

Clutter – all that stuff we accumulate over time, like papers, old plastic containers, too many bags, and bits of cloth.

Leaky faucets, bowls of water for pets, condensation

Small openings, like around: the gas pipe leading to your stove the pipes leading to your sinks and toilet, the pipes leading into and away from your radiators, and the small wall openings for telephone wires.

Cheese and peanut butter                                                                

Peace and quiet.  So when drilling vibrations hit the walls, they come out.                                                   


Cat-free homes


WHAT KEEPS MICE AWAY
Seal your food up: Metal or heavy-plastic sealed containers with tight lids, or keeping food in the fridge.  Putting an open box of crackers in a thin plastic bag may not be enough. 
Clear up  clutter,  leaving the mice nothing to build a nest with or to hide in.
Dry areas Get your leaks repaired.
Sign up for the exterminator at the guard’s desk.  Ask him to seal all the openings.  If he doesn’t do it, stuff fine steel wool (not with soap in it) or knitted copper wire mesh around the pipes and other openings.  
Once the openings are sealed, trap the mice that may already be inside your apartment.   (Don’t use poison: you’ll end up with smelly dead mice in the walls.)
If you see droppings or trap a mouse:  Don’t sweep or vacuum until the area is wet with a bleach mixture.  (You could end up with dust containing lethal viruses in the air.)  With rubber gloves, mix detergent plus 1.5 cups of bleach in a gallon of water. Spray dead rodents, traps, droppings, and the areas where you found them. Put the sprayed dead rodent or droppings in a plastic bag and seal it. Then put that in another plastic bag, seal it, and put down the chute.  Or call one of the building staff.
CAUTION: The landlord can evict a tenant for not clearing up a nuisance like clutter. If you think you, like many of your neighbors,  might have a problem, contact the tenant association’s executive committee for help.